The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the leading participants in the Seven Years War which lasted between 1754 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the pre-eminent naval power at sea. The war started poorly for Britain, suffering several defeats to France in North America during 1754-55 and losing Minorca in 1756. The same year Britain's major ally Austria switched sides and aligned itself with France and Britain was hastily forced to conclude a new alliance with Frederick the Great's Prussia. For the next seven years these two nations were ranged against a growing number of enemy powers led by France. After a period of political instability, the rise of a government headed by the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt provided Britain with firmer leadership allowing it to consolidate and achieve its war aims. In 1759 Britain enjoyed an Annus Mirabilis with success over the French in Canada, America, Germany and India. In 1761 Britain also came into conflict with Spain. The following year they captured Havana and Manila, the western and eastern capitals of the Spanish Empire and repulsed a Spanish invasion of Portugal. By this time the Pitt-Newcastle Ministry had collapsed, Britain was short of credit and the generous peace terms offered by France and its allies were accepted....

The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the leading participants in the Seven Years War which lasted between 1754 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the pre-eminent naval power at sea. The war started poorly for Britain, suffering several defeats to France in North America during 1754-55 and losing Minorca in 1756. The same year Britain's major ally Austria switched sides and aligned itself with France and Britain was hastily forced to conclude a new alliance with Frederick the Great's Prussia. For the next seven years these two nations were ranged against a growing number of enemy powers led by France. After a period of political instability, the rise of a government headed by the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt provided Britain with firmer leadership allowing it to consolidate and achieve its war aims. In 1759 Britain enjoyed an Annus Mirabilis with success over the French in Canada, America, Germany and India. In 1761 Britain also came into conflict with Spain. The following year they captured Havana and Manila, the western and eastern capitals of the Spanish Empire and repulsed a Spanish invasion of Portugal. By this time the Pitt-Newcastle Ministry had collapsed, Britain was short of credit and the generous peace terms offered by France and its allies were accepted....

Admiral George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC RN, was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War.
The indomitable perseverance he had shown...

Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of fourteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Ad...

Frederick the Great was the Hohenzollern King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786 and is regarded as one of the "enlightened despots" of 18th century Europe. He was highly educated and built his government as a model of efficiency, creating the first modern...

Jean François de Saint-Lambert was a French poet and military officer, but he is most remembered for his involvement in two love affairs.
Over the winter of 1747-48, Voltaire and his entourage took up residence in Lunéville. Saint-Lambert soon be...

Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known in Britain during his lifetime as The Young Pretender, and often referred to in retrospective accounts as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

Captain James Cook was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the...

Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II. Peter w...

Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of James Cook, he took part in the French and Indian War and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain. He later gained fame for his expedition...

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier is remembered as a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source for humans in France and throughout Europe. His many other contributions to nutrition and health included establishing the first mandatory smallpox vaccinati...

Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydne...

The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) – also known as King George's War in North America, and incorporating the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain and two of the three Silesian wars – involved nearly all the powers of Europe, except for the Polish...